1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
221 
The Virginia Snakeroot. 
In response to inquiries respecting native 
plants that have a commercial value, we last 
month gave a representation of Ginseng, and 
we now present one of the Virginia Snakeroot, 
a plant that furnishes a drug of considerable 
used in medicine as a stimulant. The plant is 
found in rich woods in all but the northernmost 
portions of the country, but as a general thing 
only very sparingly. It is only along the Alle- 
ghanies, and in Ohio and some others of the 
Western States, that it occurs in sufficient 
abundance to be collected for sale. The collec- 
from the branches of living or the trunks of 
dead trees. Besides the peculiar form of the 
flowers the stamens (reduced usuallyjto one) are 
united with the pistil, and the pollen, instead of 
being of separate grains, is usually in little 
masses which require the agency of an insect 
to take them from the cells which, inclose them 
Virginia snakeroot.—( Aristolocliia Serpentaria.) 
snowy orchis .—(Orchis spectabilis.) 
importance. Being one among the hundred, 
more or less, plants that had a reputation 
among the aborigines as a cure for snake-bites, 
its popular name is derived from this. A related 
European species is called Birthwort, it having 
in early times been used in child-birth, and the 
botanical name, Aristolocliia, refers to the same 
thing. Our Virginia Snakeroot is Aristolocliia 
Serpentaria, the specific name perpetuating its 
snake-bite reputation. We have three native 
species of Aristolocliia, one of which, A. Sipho, 
is a useful and popular climber, and is culti¬ 
vated as the Dutchman’s Pipe, a name given to 
it on account of the shape of its flowers. In 
all the species the flowers are of a singular 
structure, being usually a tube bent upon itself, 
and much dilated towards the mouth. Some 
of the exotic species cultivated in greenhouses 
are notably grotesque as to their flowers. In 
the Virginia Snakeroot, the stems are about a 
foot high, with leaves of the general shape of 
those in the engraving, although they vary con¬ 
siderably in width and as to the form of the 
base. The flowers are very inconspicuous, and 
borne near the ground; the tube of the corolla 
is curved somewhat like the letter S, and is of 
a brownish purple color. The stems spring 
from a short root-stock, which is abundantly 
furnished with slender roots. The root has a 
remarkably aromatic, camphorous odor, and is 
tion of this or any other of our native medicinal 
plants does not offer any great inducements to 
those who have anything else to do. The 
wholesale price of Virginia Snakeroot in the 
New York market is about thirty-five cents per 
lb, and as it passes through several hands before 
it gets to market, it is probable that only a small 
portion of this is received by the collector. 
Our Native Orchis. 
Although we have among our wild plants a 
large number belonging to the Orchis Family 
' we have only one Orchis proper. The flowers 
in all of the plants of this family are so unlike 
most other flowers in their structure that it is 
difficult to describe them without elaborate 
drawings. Three parts to each calyx and 
corolla are present, but one or more parts of 
one or both series is so unlike the others as to 
give the flower a most irregular appearance. 
As the flowers present many grotesque forms, 
and are frequently, especially the exotic ones, 
of much delicacy or brilliancy of color, they are 
great favorites among florists, and some of the 
rare species are the most costly of all flowers. 
Our Northern species are all terrestrial, that is, 
growing with their roots in the ground like 
other plants, while the tropical ones often grow 
and bring them in contact with the stigma. The 
species figured, the Showy Orchis, Orchis specta¬ 
bilis grows to about twice the size of the en¬ 
graving, and is found in the Northern States in 
rich woods and damp places. Its two broad 
leaves are thick and shining, the upper portion 
of the flower is pink or purplish, and the lower 
petal or lip white. Like others of the family 
we have found this a very uncertain plant, it 
occurring in considerable numbers in a locality 
where the next year it is difficult to find a single 
specimen. The name Orchis is an ancient one 
applied by the Greeks to a similar plant. 
--«•-«——- 
Packing and Marketing Produce. 
BY J. It. HBLFRICH. 
In the article upon marketing strawberries 
given last month there are hints which will ap¬ 
ply to the fruit here treated of. 
raspberries. 
Use the same care in picking, packing, and 
shipping, as advised for strawberries. The ber¬ 
ries should be perfectly dry when picked, other¬ 
wise they will mold; see that there are no soft 
or overripe berries put in, and that the cups or 
baskets are well filled so that they will be full 
when they arrive in market. For Blackcaps 
use round-top pint cups only—quarts are too 
